we're broken and tired from the miles we have run
by coinoperatedbecca
Summary: (but our hearts, they are open and the healing's begun). AU. A story of survival and surprises, and finding yourself along the way.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oh wow here I am starting another story. Lately, my mind has been flooded with ideas and if I don't put them into words I'm afraid I'll lose them. Also I'm really avoiding writing a court decision for a moot court competition and this was much more appealing. I'm going to try to be consistent with updating all three (Jesus what did I get myself into) of my stories, but with school being in session, I'll probably not have a set schedule or anything, but I do try to stick to my word of finishing what I start.

-o-o-o-

 _October, 1985._

Whether she be in Atlanta or New York, the one constant that she carried with her was the fact that autumn was her favorite season. While others claimed that the spring was the season of reawakening and new beginnings, Lux felt that autumn was when she truly came alive, when she started anew. Maybe it was the fact that she had spent twenty of her twenty-six years in school, and that the coming of autumn meant a new school year full of new classes and new opportunities to learn. Maybe it was because the crisp air and the vibrant colors of the leaves just before they fell awakened the darkest parts of her soul.

Upon her graduation from Columbia's law school that past May, she had taken on the habit of running – something she could not do between the classes, the intense studying, and the internships. Now that she had finally taken (and passed) New York's bar examination and had a steady job with consistent hours, she could afford herself the luxuries that she had deprived herself of for so long.

Though, she'd have to admit that the self-imposed deprivations paid off.

Despite the fact that, in 1982 when she first began law school, more and more females were being admitted to Columbia, Lux found herself to be only one of _twelve_ women in her section. From the very first day she started law school, she knew that she would have to work hard to set her apart from not only the women in her class, but the men as well.

And that she did.

Perhaps it was Ruth Bader Ginsberg's win in the case _Frontiero v. Richardson_ when Lux was ten, which was one of the _three hundred_ gender discrimination cases Ginsberg had argued on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, that ignited in Lux a fire that could not be extinguished. From that moment on, she knew that she was destined to go to law school and be just like Ginsberg, and she worked even harder, spending many late nights pouring over her classwork, in order to become even half the lawyer that Ginsberg was.

Her efforts were not without merit. In fact, in 1985, not only did Lux graduate second in her class (she couldn't help but to be satisfied that the person who had the number one spot in her class was a woman rather than a man), and was able to serve as Vice Chancellor for the Moot Court team – helping to bring the team a victory in the criminal law competition.

Her classmates were surprised when Lux did not accept a firm job, which had been what most of the classmates strived for, and instead took a position in the New York branch at the very organization where Ginsberg had her success. Lux was determined to make a difference, and the best way she could do it was by working for an organization that fought for the rights of marginalized people in society. It did not matter to her that she was not being paid nearly as much as those who took the lucrative firm jobs. It was more rewarding to her to know that her efforts were going to a bigger cause – ensuring that the constitutional protections were extended to _all_ , not just white men.

She took a pause from her run to check her watch. It was nearing 7:30 pm, and she silently cursed to herself – she was behind schedule. Afton hated it when she was late, but by now there was no avoiding it. It was going to take her a half hour just to get home from Central Park, and she still had to get ready – there was no way she was going to be on time for their 8:00 date. Groaning, she turned around and began her trek home.

Sometimes, she wondered what her mother would think of her running alone in the dark. To Lux, New York had been nothing short of a welcoming haven after being trapped in Georgia under the repressive watch of her mother and stepfather for eighteen years. To her mother, however, New York was a dirty cesspool infested with crime and "good for nothin' hoodlums." Lux was home for Christmas in 1984 when news of the subway vigilante shooting those boys broke out. Her entire trip consisted of disgusted looks from her mother, urging her to come back to Georgia where it was safe.

Lux just laughed at her and returned to New York to finish her last semester.

She had been in New York since she was eighteen, first getting her undergraduate degree from Columbia and then going on to get her law degree. The one thing she knew about her father, who died when she was just two years old, was the fact that he had been a lawyer. While that fact was not what determined whether Lux went to law school or not, she couldn't help but to feel some connection to the man she had never met when she, too, decided to pursue the profession. Though, Lux didn't consider herself too much of a sentimental person, and didn't give the man much more thought.

Somehow, Lux had cut five minutes off of her run from Central Park to her home. If it weren't for the fact that she was still going to be late, she would have been impressed with herself. When she opened the door to her apartment, her dutiful cat Ruth screamed at her, indicating that she had yet to be fed. Moving as quickly as she could, she filled the bowl. "Don't be such an ass," she muttered to the cat, who had recoiled when her owner tried to pet her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw that the light on her answering machine was blinking. The only person who called was her mother, and she rolled her eyes just thinking about the message that was waiting for her. _I'm curious as to what you do with your time, Lux_ , she could hear her mother's voice chiding in her head. Well, Mari would just have to wait, Lux technically didn't have to call until their bi-weekly phone call that was scheduled in two days.

By the time 8:30 rolled around, Lux was nearly running into the Chinese restaurant where she and Afton met every Wednesday and Friday. When he saw her in the doorway, he sternly pointed a finger to his watch.

"Sorry," she said panting. "I was runnin', I lost track of the time."

"Running," he enunciated. As a man born and raised in the north, he still wasn't accustomed to her southern accent. "I really wish you would be more mindful. You were never late to class."

Lux hadn't told her mother about her relationship with Afton. In fact, she hadn't told many people about it. He was around twenty years her senior, and the only reason she met him was because he had been her Civil Procedure professor her first year of law school. She wasn't quite sure how her mother, or her peers, would react to the news that she had been dating one of her professors.

"I'm sorry," she said again, her breathing finally slowing down. "I'm just not so used to havin'…having this free time."

"I know for certain that you wouldn't come to work a half hour late," he continued, his eyes scanning the menu, though she knew that he was going to get what he always did. "We have very limited time together, and I thought you would cherish it."

Oh, and he was married. Which is why they only saw each other two times a week at a shifty restaurant on her side of the city, though at least two nights a week he'd stay late in his office where she could call him on the phone without fear of interference from his wife. He and his wife hated each other, Lux knew both by what he had told her and how the two of them acted whenever they were in public with one another. The only reason they were still married was because of the children, but Afton assured Lux that once the kids were old enough, he would be divorcing his wife.

She honestly didn't mind being the woman on the side, it actually worked quite well for her. It gave her the time to focus on her schooling and career, while still getting the attention (plus some really good sex) from one of the most coveted professors on the faculty. Yes, her mother would damn her to hell every day for the rest of Lux's life if she found out, but that was exactly why Lux didn't tell anyone about their relationship.

"I _do_ cherish the time," she said, making herself look guiltier than she actually felt. "You _know_ I do."

He softened, he couldn't be angry at her for long. "I'm sorry," it was _his_ turn to apologize. He sighed. "You know how Willa can be. She was up my ass about where I go on Fridays."

"What did you tell her?" Lux asked, a look of apprehension on her face.

He looked a little pleased with himself. "I told her that I was staying overnight in the city because I was conducting a study session for the first years, and that I had a meeting in the morning with the Dean."

"Did she believe it?"

"Oh, she ate it up," he laughed. "I guess the fact that I'm pretty close to being made Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs is a factor on my side."

"Ugh," Lux groaned. "I wish they would just tell you you had the position already."

"Patience," he said, smiling. "I'll find out eventually."

-o-o-o-

Her Fridays with Afton was always the same. They'd eat at some restaurant (they alternated between four hear her neighborhood, where they knew that his wife nor any of the faculty at school would see them), and the entire time they ate they pretended as if they were two friends having a normal conversation. When it came time for them to walk back to her apartment, they would nearly run, until they were finally behind the threshold, running up the stairs leading to her third-floor walk-up where they'd _finally_ be alone. He would spend the night, leaving at around 7:00 am Saturday morning, in time for him to make it back home to his family by 9:00 am.

She fumbled with her keys as she tried to unlock the door, with Afton close behind her, kissing her neck. Even to this day, he made her skin flush a furious shade of pink. "Back up," she said breathlessly. "I can't open the door."

Finally, she was able to do it. Every Friday was always the same, he would start undressing as she made them drinks. "Gin and tonic?" she asked, patting Ruth on the head as she nearly ran to the small kitchen, rummaging through her alcohol cabinet.

"As always," he replied, working on unbuttoning his shirt.

"Oh shit," Lux said, mid pour, remembering that her mother had left a message. "I have to listen to something real quick."

Afton laughed from the other room. "A message from your mother? That really puts me in the mood."

"Oh, shut up," she laughed, pressing play on the answering machine as she continued making drinks. Instead of her mother's familiar voice, there was a stranger's voice coming from the machine.

"Um, hello, Ms. Wheelan, this is Eric calling from Saint Elizabeth's Hospital for the Insane in Philadelphia. I'm calling about the status of your aunt. If you could please call us back at the following number, we would really appreciate it."

Lux froze. She _didn't_ have an aunt. At first, she thought that this must be some mistake, but they had gotten her last name correct. "Did I hear that right?" Afton asked, walking into the kitchen. He was reduced to nothing but his undershirt and boxer shorts. "I thought you didn't have extended family?"

"I don't," she replied slowly. "I'm going to call them back to let them know they have the wrong number."

"Just leave it," he said, pulling her closer.

"But it's someone's _aunt_ ," she said. "Who's in an insane asylum. I don't think that's something that I could ignore."

"Fine," he said. "But don't take long."

Lux listened to the message again, being sure to take down the number that the man left. Quickly, she dialed the number, hoping that someone would be there to pick up even though it was nearly 10:00 at night.

"This is Eric at Saint Elizabeth's Hosp—"

"Oh, hi!" She said, as if she was talking to an old friend. "I was just callin' to tell you that I got a message from y'all and I think it was a mistake."

"Can I have your name please?"

"Lux, Lux Wheelan."

"I have you down as Jean."

"That's my first name," she said. "I go by my middle name."

"So, you're Jean, Jean Wheelan?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, we were calling to tell you that your aunt has been deemed suitable to live in public. I was wondering if you could be here by noon tomorrow to pick her up?"

"Okay, you see, there's a slight problem with that," she said. "I _don't_ have an aunt."

"According to my files, you're her next of kin. You're also the only family member she has left."

"Are you sure?"

A disgruntled sigh came from the other end. For a few moments all she heard was the rustling of paper, until he finally came back on the line. "Yes, I am sure." He said. "Now, if you aren't going to pick her up, she's not going to have many other options—"

Lux couldn't help but to think of the homeless people she saw on the streets on her way to work, or on her run in Central Park. She wondered if this was how they got onto the streets – because they didn't have anyone there when they needed someone.

"Noon, you said?" Lux asked. "I'll be there by noon. Can you give me more information about my aunt?"

-o-o-o-

"This person could be a _murderer_ , Lux." Afton said as he got out of his car once the two of them got to the train station. Despite the fact that he did not agree with what she was doing at all, he still agreed to lend her his car in order for her to make the two-hour trek to Philadelphia to pick up a woman she had never met before.

"I don't have a bad feeling about this," she said. "If I had a bad feeling, I wouldn't do it."

"I didn't realize you were a psychic," he replied sarcastically. "Use logic, Lux."

"This woman will be on the streets if it weren't for me." She protested. "I _can't_ let that happen."

"I'm not going to let you get killed because you decided to play martyr."

"I highly doubt I'll be killed."

"Fine," he said, knowing that there was no point in fighting her. "As a compromise, don't crash my car."

"I'll be just fine." She winked before he walked into the station.

-o-o-o-

She could imagine the long drive to Pennsylvania as being much scarier if she didn't know how to read a map. For once in her life, Lux was grateful for her stepfather. For some bizarre reason, the man was obsessed with maps and had taught her and her half-siblings how to read them at a young age. "You can be as big of an idiot as you want," he told them. "But it'll be over my dead body that y'all don't know how to navigate yourselves."

She took the fact that her car ride had been smooth and without any disaster as an indication that this was going to go well. She was going to help a woman, a stranger no less, get back on her feet and the outcome was going to be rewarding for the two of them. She shoved Afton's doubts in the back of her mind – he was just so cynical that he couldn't comprehend people being good.

When she rolled up in front of the Hospital, she saw a man standing outside with a woman, whom she presumed was the woman that she'd be picking up. With a smile on her face, she unlocked the passenger door and opened it, before getting out of the car to open the trunk to put the woman's two small suitcases away.

If Lux had to guess, the woman was nearing sixty. She had dark hair, almost black (though there were noticeable flecks of gray in it), styled in a pixie cut. Despite the fact that she had been in a hospital for God knows how long, the woman was dressed sharply in black short-sleeved top and black slacks. If it weren't for the angered look on her face, Lux would think that the woman was in a perpetual state of mourning.

"It's been good to have you," the man told the woman as she settled in the passenger seat of the car. The woman said nothing in return.

As Lux drove away, the woman raised two middle fingers towards the man's retreating figure.

Lux was slightly taken aback, but refused to think about Afton's doubts again.

"So, Jean," Lux said slowly. "Jean Louise?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, call me Scout," the woman said, though she didn't sound angry. "Do you have a cigarette?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: if this is a mess, I'm very sorry – I'm finishing up my finals (just one more thank God) and I'm trying to get back into the groove of writing because I definitely have not given up on my stories. This is my most outlandish one so I thought it'd be a good one to get back into the swing of things with. I haven't proofread and my brain is mush so this might be crap, so sorry for that. I actually have this planned out in its entirety so it may be good as long as I don't completely mess things up.

-o-o-o-

The woman, her aunt, reminded her of a child. In spite of her harsh demeanor and foul language, Jean Louise Finch seemed to be filled with a sense of wonder. She played with the manual crank that lowered her window, sticking her face and hands out to feel the breeze hit her. She sat with her ear pressed against the radio speakers, laughing at how the bass felt against her skin. She didn't sit still, her hands fumbled in her lap, her eyes wide with wonder as she had her first glimpse at the outside world in God knows how long.

"Where you gonna take me?" she asked about an hour into the car ride. "Back to Maycomb?"

Maycomb. Lux had been born there but she had no memories of the place. "No," she responded. "I haven't been there since I was a kid."

"Then where are you takin' me?"

"New York."

"New York?"

"Well, that's where I live."

"I'm livin' with _you_?" She asked.

"Is there a problem with that?"

The woman paused for a moment, as though she was deep in thought. Lux looked over and saw that she had almost her entire arm out of the window, her hand swaying with the air that rushed around it. Her eyes were out the window, big and dark and perplexing.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Scout finally said. "It ain't a problem."

"Good," Lux said, smiling to herself. "It's not a big place but I think it'll work."

Scout rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself. "I'm sure prisoners have cells bigger than the rooms we had at that shitshow. Your place will feel like a manor."

"Was it that bad?" Lux asked, afraid of what the answer may be.

Scout didn't answer.

-o-o-o-

The car ride had been a quiet one. Lux drove, her map rested on her lap, trying not to make it obvious that she was watching her aunt from the corner of her eye. She wanted so badly to open her mouth, to ask her questions about who she was, why she was in that asylum, how long she had been there, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. Based off of Scout's demeanor, she wanted to forget about that place as soon as possible.

"I lived in New York, you know." Scout said as the two of them drove into the city.

"I didn't know that," she said. "I, erm, don't know much about you, actually."

"Not much to know." Scout shrugged. Lux wondered if she had hurt her aunt by that admission, by basically acknowledging the fact that her mother acted as if her father ceased to exist the moment he died.

"I don't believe that," Lux said, cautiously navigating Afton's car throughout the traffic. "I think that there's a lot to know."

"When you spend nearly twenty-two years in a loony bin, your life becomes one big gray stain." The woman shrugged, her eyes trying to absorb the entire city all at once.

" _Twenty-two years_?" Lux nearly shouted. "But, what –"

Scout shrugged. "Shit happens, kid."

"Aunt Je—"

"Call mean Jean one more time and I will jump out of this car."

"Scout." Lux said firmly, a large part of her believing that threat. "Why were you in that long?"

A mischievous smile played upon her lips. "Model patient," she responded. "They loved me so much they just wanted me there forever."

Lux had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "How did you—"

"Listen here," Scout said firmly, the smile leaving her face. "I don't want to talk about that place, alright? For Christ's sake I just left there a few hours ago."

Lux realized she had been holding her breath. "I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just, I have a lot of questions. About you, your life, where you've been, why I've never heard about—"

"You can blame your mother for that."

"I-I know." Lux stammered. "She isn't…" Lux trailed off.

"What?"

"If I don't ask about that place, then you don't ask about my mother." Lux said, in an attempt to compromise.

The smile came back onto Scout's face. "She's still a bitch then, huh?"

-o-o-o-

Instead of her first destination being her apartment, she met Afton at the same train station that she had dropped him off at to return the car. He was standing on the sidewalk, his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face. When Lux put the car to a stop, Scout appeared startled – especially once she saw that they were at the train station. Lux wondered if Scout thought that she had lied to her about staying in New York, and that she had actually changed her mind and was going to ship her off on some train going southbound. "This isn't my car," Lux explained quickly. "It belongs to my friend there," she said, pointing at Afton. "We'll have to walk to my apartment if that's alright."

Instantaneous relief. "That's fine," Scout said.

The two women got out of the car and Lux quickly got Scout's two suitcases out of the trunk. Scout and Afton stared at each other, both silent. "Thanks again," Lux said, going to kiss his cheek.

He walked away.

"Convincing my wife I had business to attend to was like pulling teeth," was all he said before nearly slamming the car door shut.

Lux shrugged him off, like she usually did when he was in these moods. It wasn't her fault that he was like this, she'd tell herself, he was just prone to these moods.

"Some friend," Scout said, grabbing her bags out of Lux's hands. "Now which way are we goin'?"

-o-o-o-

The walk to her apartment took a half hour longer than it usually would, though she couldn't really complain. The entire time, Scout hardly watched where she was going. She stopped at everything that interested her, commented on all of her surroundings, asked questions that Lux couldn't even begin to answer if she tried – about businesses, architecture, people, you name it – it was clear that the years that Scout spent locked away filled her head with such an imagination and now that she was actually back in the real world her thoughts were exploding.

Scout marveled at Lux's apartment building, reminisced about her own brief time in New York as they made their way up the stairs, and said hello to Lux's neighbor who had been checking her mail (despite her harsh demeanor, the Southern hospitality was still very real). "This is excitin'," Scout marveled as Lux fought with her old lock. "I remember movin' to New York when I was young, this feels just like it did then."

Lux smiled to herself as she finally opened her door. Her cat, who was waiting by the door, mewed loudly, indicating how angry she was that her owner was gone for so long. "Lord Almighty!" Scout exclaimed.

"Sorry about her," Lux said as she tried to shoo the cat away. "She can be a pain."

Scout went over to the cat, who looked at the stranger with suspicion. However, when Scout extended her hand, Rose sniffed it, and then allowed Scout to pet her. "She looks just like Rosie," Scout laughed to herself, almost in disbelief. "I'd be damned…"

"Who was Rosie?" Lux asked.

"Her full name was Rose Aylmer," Scout informed her niece, now sitting on the floor and stroking Ruth. "She was my uncle's cat, a big fat beautiful orange thing. Jack fed her table scraps which is why she got so fat, but he was a doctor you see, and he told Jem and I that she ate all of the spare fingers at the hospital." Scout was laughing now, cupping Ruth's head in her hands. "Yeah, she looks just like Rosie."

"Jem," Lux said slowly. "Was that Jeremy?"

"We called him Jem."

Lux felt a pang of regret for not knowing that. "Mama never told me,"

"We're not goin' to talk about her, remember?"

"Right."

"When Jem got into high school, he tried to get us to all stop calling him Jem and to call him Jeremy," Scout said, laughing as she recalled that memory. "It didn't last long."

Lux, frankly, did not know how to respond. She felt herself feeling slightly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the fact that she just found out that her father, a man she never knew, had a sister she never knew about. Overwhelmed by the fact that said sister had been living in an asylum for _twenty-two years_. Overwhelmed by the fact that her aunt was now living with her. Overwhelmed by the fact that her father had once been a living, breathing person.

"I don't have much food," Lux informed her aunt. "How about we go grab some takeout?"

-o-o-o-

Scout had been so overwhelmed by her dinner options that Lux had decided to just buy a Hodge-podge of different things. Chinese, Italian, Indian, you name it. The two of them, carrying enough food to feed a small family, laughed together as Scout tried to guess what each food would taste like. Lux took these simple things for granted – being able to step out her door and have whatever food she wanted at almost any time – and didn't even realize that this would be something completely new to Scout. She couldn't help but to be excited to experience this with Scout, a piece of her father that she had never known.

The two of them settled at the kitchen table, which quickly became full of all of the different foods they bought. Scout didn't like Indian, it was too spicy, but she thought that it was something Uncle Jack would have liked. Italian was good, and Scout said that she thought that would have been her Aunt Alexandra's favorite. Alexandra was apparently a real piece of work who probably wore a corset until the day she died and was dead-set on Scout being a lady. Scout decided that the Chinese was her favorite, and thought that her father, Atticus, would have liked it, too. "He used'ta eat pigs' feet," Scout divulged. "I was used to pretend like they were a science experiment."

"What would Jem have liked?" Lux asked, letting his childhood nickname roll off of her tongue like she had been using it her entire life.

Scout thought for a moment. "He was like a human garbage bin," she said, eyeing all of the food around them. "He would eat _anything_. I think he'd probably put the curry on top of the pizza or some weird shit like that and think it was God's gift to earth."

Lux cringed. "Are you kiddin' me?"

"Nome," Scout laughed, putting more food on her plate. "He liked the weirdest stuff."

"What was his favorite food?" She asked.

Scout laughed, which caught Lux by surprise. "You sound like me."

"How's that?"

"My mama died when I was two," she divulged, her mouth full. "I asked Jem about her all of the damn time."

"I never knew that," Lux said slowly. "How?"

"Heart attack. Just like Jem."

"That's awful."

Scout shrugged. "I think he liked Cal's roast pork the best."

"Cal?"

"She took care of us growin' up."

Lux's head felt like it was spinning. There was so much she was finding out, but at the same time, there was so much more that she wanted to learn. It was as though the floodgates of her past had been ripped open, and she was being bombarded with memories that she didn't know existed, that weren't even hers. She was overwhelmed, but at the same time, she didn't want Scout to stop talking. She wanted her aunt to talk, and talk, and talk, and talk until Lux knew everything about this past in Maycomb, Alabama.

"There's so much I need to know," Lux said slowly, pretending not to see her aunt feed Ruth a scrap of food.

Again, Scout shrugged. "You'll find out eventually."

-o-o-o-

Because Lux didn't have time to figure out a sleeping arrangement for the two of them, she let Scout take her bedroom while she took the couch that her mother bought from a neighbor's estate sale before Lux moved to New York. Perhaps she'd buy a smaller bed or something, and the two of them would share her room. She couldn't quite afford a two-bedroom apartment, but maybe if this arrangement lasted long enough, she would think about saving up for one.

She stared at the ceiling, a sense of uneasiness filling her. She wasn't worried that her aunt was some sort of psychopath or killer. Rather, she wasn't sure how she felt about learning so much about a side of her family she hardly knew existed. One part of her wanted to know about her father, to know about his family, and to know about Scout and how they ended up in this predicament. However, another part of her wasn't sure if she could handle this, after living in ignorance for nearly twenty-six years…

"Hey,"

Lux jumped and yelped as the figure of her aunt appeared at the foot of the couch. "Don't worry," Scout said as she moved to sit on the couch, forcing Lux to sit up. "I'm not a crazed murderer or anything."

"Is something wrong?"

"I was thinkin'," Scout said.

"Yes?"

"I saw you have a typewriter in your room."

"You can use it if you want,"

"I've got rheumatoid," she said quickly. "My hands don't work quite as well as they used to."

"Oh."

"So I got thinkin'."

"About what?"

"I came here to write," she explained. "All those years ago. I wanted to write things, stories, articles, you name it."

"Okay?" 

"But I can't do that so good now because of the rheumatoid."

"Mm hm."

"And you want to know more about your family, don't you?"

"Well, yes."

"Well, what if I tell you my story and you type it?" Scout asked. "We can do it piece by piece every day. We'd both win."

"Why not?" Lux shrugged. "I'll help you. I'll be back at work on Monday, but we can do it when I get home."

"Great." Scout said, standing up to go back to the bed. "Thanks, kid."


	3. Chapter 3

Scout stayed up late and slept even later. Lux tried to pretend that her Aunt's unusual sleeping patterns weren't affecting her, but she found herself dozing off at her desk at work more than once since Scout's arrival. It's not as if her Aunt needed constant attention. Rather, Lux would work from eight in the morning until seven, and once she got home she'd prepare a quick dinner for the two of them (or, more often than not, order takeout), and the two of them would settle at her old table. Lux would hunch over her typewriter, feverishly typing what her Aunt said word for word until at least two in the morning. On the weekends, the two of them sat at the table nearly all day in the same position. Lux's eyes were constantly tired and her wrists were beginning to ache. However, she'd never let Scout know, she wanted to absorb all of the information she could.

It had been several weeks since Lux received the phone call that her mysterious Aunt was ready to be picked up from the asylum. She had yet to tell her mother, and had actually been avoiding her out of fear of accidentally letting the existence of her new roommate slip.

Afton was furious with her. Since Scout arrived, Lux hardly made time for him anymore. On occasion, when Scout and Lux needed a break on a Saturday night, Lux would grab a quick dinner with Afton but would not invite him back to her place. It was obvious that his patience was wearing thin.

"I hardly have time with you as it is," he told her once over dinner. She had been distracted that night – she needed more paper and ink for the typewriter and the supply store was about to close. "Are you even listening?"

She quickly assured him that she was listening, and that she was just trying to get to know a side of her family that she didn't know, and he gave her the cold shoulder for the rest of their meal. She couldn't help but to feel stung by that. Her miserable feeling followed her as she walked home from the supply store, her arms full of ink and paper and other supplies. The moment she walked in, Scout knew that something was bothering her.

"Married folk are awful," Scout said as Lux organized the pages she had already written and set up the typewriter for their next session. "I was the other woman before, you know."

Lux nearly dropped what was in her hand. "What?" She asked, finding herself surprised.

Scout pointed at the typewriter. "You'll have to wait until we get there. We've got a ways to go."

They were at year seven of Scout's life. They had just finished talking about Scout's first year of school, a year that was absolutely miserable, and the beginning of the Tom Robinson trial. After hearing extensive background of Simon Finch, a fur trader who escaped religious persecution in England and settled in what would become Maycomb, Alabama ("I always found this shit borin', but if I'm puttin' my life in writin', I might as well put this information down – Aunty would roll in her grave if I didn't"), Lux heard about the beginnings of her grandfather, Atticus, and his siblings. After what seemed like forever, Scout had discussed the birth of Jem and her. The description of her childhood went fairly quickly – her and Jem were taken care of by a woman named Calpurnia after their mother died when Scout was born, and the two of them spent most of their time reading and (according to the people of Maycomb) causing trouble for their poor widowed father.

One of Lux's favorite stories included a tale Scout told of some trouble she, Jem, and a childhood friend called Dill got into when a traveling preacher was in town. It involved Lux's father pretending to be said preacher and Dill using bedsheets to dress as the "Holy Ghost." Lux had to pause from her typing for a good five minutes until she could stop herself from laughing. Her other favorite stories involved speculation about a mysterious neighbor, one called Boo Radley by the children, a mysterious recluse who never left his home and was rumored to be nefarious.

"You'll find out more about him later," Scout told her when she first brought him up. After a while, Lux stopped getting frustrated by that phrase, which her Aunt said multiple times a night.

In Scout's narrative, it was summer again. The torture of school was over, and Dill was back after spending the year in Mississippi. Lux could tell that this was a happy time for her Aunt, whose eyes seemed to gleam with enjoyment as she spoke.

The night before, Scout had told Lux about the time she had found gum in a hole of a tree in the Radley yard. Scout recalled that she remembered shoving the gum in her mouth with pure delight, only to be forced to spit it out by Jem, who was convinced that it was poison. "I never wanted to tell him anything again," Scout admitted. "It was damn fine gum." That opinion changed, however, when the two of them found old Indian pennies in the same tree hole on the last day of school, and Jem allowed them to keep the items.

"We loved playin' pretend," Scout said, chuckling to herself as she light her third cigarette for the night. Lux wasn't looking at her Aunt (instead, she was typing with both hands and trying to balance her own cigarette in her lips as she typed), but she could tell Scout was smiling. She always smiled when she talked about her time with Jem and Dill. "One day, we got ahold of this ol' tire and spent the whole day rollin' around in it. "Well, Jem got pissed at me for somethin', he was always pissed at me, and he rolled me so hard with the intention of killin' me." Scout explained. "I thought he damn near succeeded when he rolled me straight into the yard of the Radley's. I never ran away from somethin' so quickly in my life."

"Then what happened?" Lux asked, her cigarette nearly falling out of her mouth. "Did he come out?"

"Oh hell no, kid." Scout exclaimed. "We made up a new game."

She proceeded to tell Lux about the game of the Radleys – a game that the three children developed and played out throughout the entire summer. Scout said for most of that summer she was bitter, because she was relegated to simply playing Mrs. Radley, who was always mending the kitchen or doing something ladylike and ended up being screaming and hysterical by the end of the game. "I wanted to be Boo so badly," she admitted.

"Did you ever get to play as him?" Lux asked.

Scout shrugged. "Once or twice, maybe," she said. "We stopped playin' after a while. Atticus heard the ruckus and came out and asked if we were makin' fun of the Radley's. Jem, of course, lied. But we couldn't help but to think that we couldn't play it anymore."

"What was Atticus like?" Lux asked. Scout had given her a physical description of Atticus, and mentioned how shitty his hearing was and how he was nearly deaf in one eye, but only gave snippets about his personality. Lux was fond of a story Scout told about her and Jem getting toy guns one Christmas. Atticus had told them that they could shoot all of the blue jays they wanted, but not to shoot a mockingbird, because all mockingbirds did was make music for people to enjoy. Scout, who mentioned that she hung on those words throughout her childhood, said this nonchalantly – Lux, however, was moved more than she thought she'd be.

"He was _good_ ," Scout said. "I worshipped him as a little girl. He taught me to read, he protected us. As I grew older, I thought he was a right ol' pain in the ass, but I loved him all the same. I beat up many a kid defendin' Atticus."

Lux remembered a story where a bunch of boys made fun of Scout her first year of school because of Atticus' choice to defend an African American man from rape charges, and Scout couldn't help but to beat the shit out of them. The teasing Jem and Scout faced from children was relentless. While Jem was seemingly able to mind his own, Scout couldn't help but to give in to her impulses.

"What do you mean he was a pain in the ass?"

"Girl, you are just as impatient as your father!" Scout exclaimed. "We aren't there yet. We're talkin' about summer and Boo Radley."

Lux rolled her eyes. "Go on, then." She said, as Scout continued her story.


End file.
